The present invention relates to a running gear of a rail vehicle defining a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction and a height direction, the running gear comprising a first wheel unit and a second wheel unit defining a wheel unit axle distance, a running gear frame supported on the first wheel unit and the second wheel unit, and a first drive unit driving the first wheel unit. The first drive unit comprises a first reaction moment support unit connected to the running gear frame at a first support location to balance a drive moment exerted onto the first wheel unit by the first drive unit. The first support location, in the transverse direction, is laterally offset from a center of the running gear frame. The present invention further relates to a rail vehicle comprising such a running gear.
In such running gears, the reaction moment necessary to be exerted on the drive unit to balance the positive moment (e.g. when accelerating) or negative moment (e.g. during regenerative braking) exerted by the drive unit onto the wheel unit, typically is introduced into the drive unit via a corresponding support linkage pivotably connected to both the running gear frame and the drive unit in order to be able to take up relative motion between the wheel unit and the running gear frame.
However, such running gears typically experience the disadvantage that, due to the lateral offset of the support location with respect to the running gear center, the reaction force (generating the reaction moment) acting on the running gear frame causes a rolling moment acting on the running gear frame about a rolling axis parallel to the longitudinal direction. Hence, the running gear frame resiliently supported on the wheel units, depending on the actual torque transmitted between the drive unit and the wheel unit, experiences a rolling moment which changes over time. Such a varying rolling moment acting on the running gear frame causes unfavorable running properties or unfavorable dynamic properties of the running gear.